The Stone Age refers to a period in the distant past. It started about 3 million years ago and lasted until 40,000 years ago. It is called so because at that time our distant ancestors made their tools from stone.
species Homo sapiens appeared long after the beginning of the Stone Age, only about 200,000 years ago. The Stone Age began when several species of apes began to make simple tools, carving sharp pieces of stone from larger pieces of rock.
These monkeys sat partially upright when they walked, which meant they had their hands free to do things like make tools. These early apes had small brains, not unlike the brain of a chimpanzee, and they did not speak.
Other upright walking monkeys appeared later. They were given names such as Homo habilis (handy man) or Homo erectus (righteous man). These species lived in Africa 1 or 2 million years ago, long before humans like us existed.
Where did the first people live?
They had larger brains than the first upright apes, but their brains were still smaller than ours. They were not as intelligent as us and did not speak, even if they made sounds.
About 400,000 years ago, three species that had brains much larger than the first great apes lived at about the same time. These were called Neanderthals, Denisovans and an early form of the species Homo sapiens – our ancestors.
Neanderthals and Denisovans lived outside of Africa in the part of the world known as Eurasia, which includes Europe. Little is known about the Denisovans, but by about 100,000 years ago, Neanderthals had wooden spears and some simple tools made from animal bones, such as deer, in addition to their stone tools.
Some people believe that because of their large brains and the ability to make tools other than stone, Neanderthals could speak. But this is just a guess. The last Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago.
The different languages of ancient humanity
About 200,000 years ago, the primitive Homo sapiens evolved into what we now call modern humans. These modern humans were just as intelligent as we are and could speak using a language.
Later, around 60,000 years ago, humans traveled out of Africa and eventually spread to the rest of the world. In the beginning, even our ancestors Homo sapiens they only made stone tools, but with the ability to speak, they probably used their language to teach each other, he writes Inver.
As time went on, they learned to make many different types of tools from stone, wood, bone, and leather. They had clothing and shoes, made shelters, and hunted together for food. 40,000 years ago (and possibly even earlier), modern humans were drawing on cave walls.
Early humans would have had the same subjects as modern humans
In the Stone Age there would have been far fewer different languages than today. But the languages that did exist would have been the same as our modern languages. People would have spoken in sentences with nouns and verbs, even if the words they used were different.
The languages would have been different between the tribes and would have had fewer words than we have today. They would have had words for “mother” and “father” or “sister” and “brother”. They would have had names for animals and plants, they would have been able to make plans, say “please” and “thank you” and have names for each other.
Early modern humans probably talked about many of the same things we do. They may have been Stone Age people, but they were modern when it came to speaking.